BNP Paribas Exane Cuts Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Price Target to $8.00

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) had its target price cut by BNP Paribas Exane from $10.00 to $8.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have an underperform rating on the stock.

FLO has been the subject of several other research reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Flowers Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Flowers Foods in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Stephens set a $11.00 price objective on shares of Flowers Foods in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Flowers Foods from $11.00 to $7.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $11.17.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE FLO opened at $8.07 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.16 and a beta of 0.39. Flowers Foods has a 52-week low of $7.86 and a 52-week high of $18.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $9.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.76.

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 16.61%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. Flowers Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.900 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Flowers Foods will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Flowers Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.2475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.3%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 247.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Flowers Foods news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.03, for a total transaction of $1,678,270.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 813,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,531,441.40. This represents a 20.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in Flowers Foods during the third quarter worth $30,000. WealthCollab LLC raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 1,623.7% during the fourth quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 2,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 2,192 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 225.6% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 1,663 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 64.4% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in Flowers Foods by 262.9% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 2,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,898 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.45% of the company’s stock.

About Flowers Foods

Flowers Foods, Inc is one of the largest producers of packaged bakery foods in the United States, offering a variety of fresh bread, buns, rolls, snack cakes and tortillas. Headquartered in Thomasville, Georgia, the company operates an extensive network of bakeries and distribution centers that serve retail grocery chains, convenience stores, mass merchandisers and foodservice customers nationwide. Flowers Foods markets its products under well-known brands such as Nature’s Own, Wonder, Dave’s Killer Bread, Mrs.